Craig-Hallum analyst Brad Berning downgraded Square (SQ) to Sell from Hold and lowered his price target for the shares to $37 from $41. The stock closed yesterday down $1.93 to $55.16. Investors should use the company's easier comps in the first half of 2018 to take profits ahead of tougher comps in the second half of the year, Berning tells investors in a research note. Further, the analyst believes increasing competition in 2019 will likely decelerate Square's revenue growth and compress its valuation. Competition is "tired of Square winning and they are bringing scale, lower pricing, and functionality," the analyst contends. He notes that First Data (FDC) is rolling out the digitalization of its distribution channels while Verifone (PAY) will have Carbon likely fully rolled out by Q4.

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth reiterated a Buy rating on Verifone, saying he was positive on Verifone's ongoing rollout of its next-generation payment devices, its emphasis on payment and other business management services, and its recent divestiture of its non-core lines of business.

11/16/17

11/16/17DOWNGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst downgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst downgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel and to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. 2. Verifone (PAY) downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James with analyst Wayne Johnson saying he is cautious on fiscal 2018 Systems Solutions revenue growth and earnings and thinks it will be dominated by older, flagship architecture and said he can not verify traction in its next-generation Carbon and Engage PoS devices, which lack commitment from a large, domestic name brand retailer. 3. Marriott (MAR) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein. 4. Emerson (EMR) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen with the firm saying its increased offer for Rockwell (ROK), if accepted, would result in a very low return for years. 5. NetEase (NTES) downgraded to Sell from Underperform at CLSA with analyst Man Ho Lam saying third quarter results were disappointing and expects negative revenue and earnings momentum to continue into the first half of 2018. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

SunTrust analyst Andrew Jeffrey kept his Buy rating and a $23 price targat on Verifone (PAY) after its in-line Q4 results and "messy" FY18 guidance. Jeffrey says the company's offerings remain "relevant" across its merchant base despite the competition from Square (SQ), forecasting low-single digit organic revenue growth and better margins going forward. The analyst attributes the FY18 guidance miss to the Street not having adjusted its consensus view following the company's divestitures.

WATTEnergous

05/02/17

JPMS

05/02/17NO CHANGETarget $260JPMSOverweight

JPMorgan now confident Broadcom's wireless charging is in upcoming iPhone

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur says his recent work indicates Apple (AAPL) will integrate Broadcom's (BRCM) wireless charging chip into its upcoming iPhone launch in the second half of 2017. In his initial report on the subject in February, Sur was unclear whether or not Apple would be integrating wireless charging into this year's iPhone launch. The February report sent shares of Energous (WATT) lower. Since that report, Sur has learned that Broadcom is getting set to commence manufacturing production of the wireless charging chip with its foundry partners in May. Sur believes Apple will also use Broadcom's next generation WiFi/Bluetooth combo chip and maybe two ASIC chips instead of one. There is at least a $2-$3 step-up in dollar content per phone from the new wireless charging chip, new touch controller chips and upgraded wireless connectivity content in the upcoming iPhones, which is "significantly" higher than what the market is anticipating, Sur tells investors in a research note. He reiterates an Overweight rating on Broadcom with a $260 price target. The stock closed yesterday up 51c to $221.32.

01/05/18

OPCO

01/05/18NO CHANGEOPCO

Energous reached major milestone last week, says Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz says that after after several years and multiple iterations, Energous accomplished a "major milestone" last week with the FCC approving its distance charging solution. While the importance shouldn't be overlooked, going forward it's all about execution, Uerkwitz tells investors in a research note. The analyst, not wanting to "get ahead of our skis," reiterates a Perform rating on Energous. The analyst believes his model, that derives a potential fair value of $24 for the stock, is unreliable "due to minor changes yielding major moves."

12/28/17

ROTH

12/28/17NO CHANGETarget $45.8ROTHBuy

Energous price target raised to $45.80 from $22.80 at Roth Capital

Roth Capital analyst William Gibson raised his price target for Energous to $45.80 from $22.80 based on the NPV of all losses and net income over ten years from 2015 through 2024. The analyst notes that the Federal Communications Commission certified Energous' WattUp Mid Field transmitter, making it the first-ever FCC approved charger capable of transferring power wirelessly up to three feet over RF frequencies. This puts the guidelines in place for new WattUp technologies in coming weeks and months with more power, functionality, and scale, he adds. Gibson reiterates a Buy rating on the shares.

As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty upgraded Seagate to Overweight from Equal Weight, stating that she believes accelerating IT budgets and data storage growth as part of the "Data Era" are being underappreciated by investors. Low inventory levels and improving IT demand s suggest Seagate's recent upside is sustainable, added Huberty, who raised her price target on the stock to $72 from $51.

04/09/18

MSCO

04/09/18UPGRADEMSCOOverweight

Seagate upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

04/02/18

RBCM

04/02/18NO CHANGETarget $62RBCMSector Perform

Seagate price target raised to $62 from $55 at RBC Capital

RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani raised his price target on Seagate to $62 and also raised his FY18 EPS view to $5.21 from $4.89. The analyst contends that the company stands to benefit from an environment of rising demand, improved mix, and discipline in operating expenses, adding that the strength discussed by the company after Q2 continued in Q3 and will persist into Q4, with "robust revenues driven by better underlying HDD unit trends". Daryanani adds that gross margins could see an upside of up to 100bps amid a richer mix and improved utilization rates. The analyst keeps his Sector Perform rating on Seagate, opting to "await further clarity on the diverging demand trends of the possible rebound in consumer notebooks versus notebook cannibalization from flash memory-equipped tablets".

Evercore ISI analyst C.J. Muse called today's weakness in Nvidia shares, which he attributes to news that Bitmain released an Ethereum mining rig based on an internal application-specific integrated circuit chip, a "tremendous" buying opportunity. He said his sense is that cryptocurrency is about 5% of overall Nvidia revenues and he believes the company will likely power through any tough compares from crypto-driven tailwinds given the new gaming GPU launch cycle ramping in the second half of 2018. The analyst, who contends that the current selloff in Nvidia seems overdone, keeps an Outperform rating and $275 price target on the stock.

UALUnited Continental

03/09/18

JPMS

03/09/18NO CHANGEJPMS

JPMorgan sees Airlines raising Q1 outlooks at next week's conference

JPMorgan analyst James Baker believes several Airlines will raise their Q1 guidance at his firm's Aviation, Transportation and Industrials Conference next week. He expects near-term consensus estimates to move higher for the airlines coming out of the presentations, particularly for United Continental (UAL). The analyst recommends increasing exposure to the sector ahead of the conference. He raised his estimates for United the most, taking his Q1 earnings per share forecast up to 32c from 3c. Other names in the space include American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU) and Southwest (LUV).

02/07/18

IMPC

02/07/18UPGRADETarget $49IMPCOutperform

Spirit Airlines upgraded to Outperform from In-Line at Imperial Capital

Imperial Capital analyst Michael Derchin upgraded Spirit Airlines to Outperform and raised his price target for the shares to $49 from $42. The shares are fully discounting the impact from the potential contract with the pilots and the competitive situation with United Continental (UAL), Derchin tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees upside from "strong" ancillary revenues, operational improvements, and decelerating capacity growth.

01/31/18

01/31/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Foot Locker (FL) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer with analyst Anna Andreeva saying with Nike's (NKE) "onset" of innovation and adidas' (ADDYY) ongoing momentum, Foot Locker is poised to stabilize as 2018 unfolds. 2. American Airlines (AAL) and United Continental (UAL) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein. 3. Biogen (BIIB) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS with analyst Carter Gould saying the market is underappreciating Biogen's pipeline opportunity and the potential for additional assets to be added through acquisitions. 4. Autoliv (ALV) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird with analyst David Leiker saying the core business appears to be at the inflection of delivering on strong market share gains from airbag recalls. 5. Time Warner (TWX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

01/31/18

01/31/18UPGRADEOutperform

United Continental upgraded to Outperform at Bernstein

As previously reported, Bernstein analyst David Vernon upgraded United Continental to Outperform from Market Perform following the recent selloff and as he sees sufficient upside. While Vernon acknowledges that United has issues, namely great hubs in unmatched locations that do not produce good results because they have not been managed properly, the analyst believes the company is taking steps to address that deficiency.

TUPTupperware Brands

02/01/18

RHCO

02/01/18NO CHANGETarget $64RHCOHold

Tupperware Brands price target lowered to $64 from $68 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Michael Swartz lowered his price target on Tupperware Brands to $64 based on a "so-so" quarter and "underwhelming" FY18 outlook. The analyst keeps his Hold rating, saying the stock will not move much higher until the company's cash return can become "more compelling".

EMKREmcore

12/06/17

LSCM

12/06/17NO CHANGETarget $10LSCMBuy

Emcore selloff yesterday a buying opportunity, says Lake Street

Lake Street analyst Jaeson Schmidt says that while he's disappointed in Emcore's weaker December quarter outlook, he recommends using the stock selloff yesterday as a buying opportunity. He lowered his price target for the shares to $10 from $13 and keeps a Buy rating on the name. The analyst believes Emcore's long-term growth opportunities remain.

As reported earlier, Northland analyst Tim Savageaux upgraded Emcore to Outperform from Market Perform and raised his price target to $8 from $6. The analyst cites the strength of demand in China passive optical network market along with data points cited by the head of fiber access technology at China Mobile (CHL), as well as the management's positive commentary at the Optical Fiber Conference around the company's defense focused laser gyroscope unit.